Training smarter spurs S’pore jiu-jitsu exponent Noah Lim to silver at world championships
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Singapore's Noah Lim posing with the silver medal that he won at the Ju-jitsu International Federation World Championships on Nov 4.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NOAH LIM
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- Noah Lim won silver at the Ju-Jitsu World Championships, beating rivals by training smarter, not harder. He focuses on skill development and mastering techniques.
- Lim, a medical student, balances studies and sport by training at 70 per cent intensity and seeking feedback, influenced by Jozef Chen's "growth phase" concept.
- Aiming for SEA Games gold, Lim prioritises skill development over results, viewing it as preparation for future Asian Games and long-term improvement.
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SINGAPORE – In the past, Singaporean jiu-jitsu exponent Noah Lim approached training with a single-minded intensity – going all out every session and channelling his focus into beating everyone he faced.
But in recent years, he has taken a different route, choosing to train smarter rather than harder.
That shift has paid off, with Lim clinching the men’s Under-69kg silver medal at the Ju-jitsu International Federation World Championships on Nov 4.
At the Hua Mak Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, the 23-year-old achieved a breakthrough. En route to claiming silver, he defeated familiar rivals such as South Korea’s Asian Games bronze medallist Joo Seong-hyeon, whom he had lost to in the quarter-finals of the Hangzhou Asiad in 2023.
After finishing fifth on the continental stage on several occasions, Lim was finally a medallist at the world level.
He told The Straits Times: “It’s quite ironic that from not training harder, I’m actually doing better.
“Because now, instead of just mindlessly pushing 100 per cent, I have a very focused approach to what kind of skills I want to develop, what are the positions I need to be good at and how do I master those techniques?
“So over the past few years, I’ve been training smarter and it’s really nice for it to finally pay off after so many years of losing to these guys. Finally beating them, it feels really good.”
Part of that change came out of necessity. On top of his sporting pursuits, the fourth-year medical student at Nanyang Technological University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine has also had to juggle his studies.
He noted how making use of every bit of time to train is crucial, especially in the third and fourth years of his studies, when a lot of time is spent in hospitals and clinics.
Instead of training at full intensity, Lim now maintains about 70 per cent heart rate during sessions, which allows him to think through his positions and analyse what he should do.
Another practice he has incorporated into his training is exchanging feedback with his training partners, turning his focus to lifting the overall standard of jiu-jitsu in Singapore.
One way he does this is teaching his training partners how to counter his techniques so that he faces greater resistance in training.
Lim credits Taiwanese-German grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu exponent Jozef Chen, a fast-rising name in the sport, for influencing his mindset.
The two trained together when Chen spent a few years in Singapore and Lim was struck by his unconventional methods.
He said: “In training, he would never bring his A-game and you may be able to beat him in training. He would start in a bad position for him and it was so atypical.
“But over the years, he developed his skills so much faster than everyone else and he talked to me about this idea of the performance phase versus the growth phase.
“When you try to perform, you should always bring your A-game. In competition, you do your best technique, but the rest of your training is always focusing on growth – he’ll give up as bad a position as possible so that he could learn as much as possible from those positions.”
Buoyed by his performance, Lim will return to Thailand in December for the SEA Games,
But he is focused on more than just results, acknowledging that there is more to improve on after several close bouts at the world championships.
He beat Canadian Kevin Wheeler by submission, South Korea’s Joo (2-0), Saudi Arabia’s Issa Chmaissani (by two advantage points) and reigning Asian Games champion Nurzhan Batyrbekov (by one advantage point) of Kazakhstan, before falling 4-2 to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Huraymil in the gold-medal match.
He said: “Over time as I’ve competed, it’s quite frustrating if you only care about the result. I want to develop more skill sets – even though for the world championships I managed to win some matches, it was still very, very close and I know there are some positions I want to work on.
“I look at the SEA Games as part of my training, part of being able to deal with the pressure of competing is always quite stressful. The main goal is always Asian Games and the years to come, so I’m just trying to think of it long term and my goal is to keep developing skill sets, keep getting better as a competitor.”
Singapore Ju-Jitsu Association president Henry Kothagoda hailed Lim’s accomplishment, saying: “Noah’s achievement is of huge significance. It marks the first time that a Singapore jiu-jitsu athlete has become world No. 2. I would like to commend Noah and his team for their victory. I hope this will encourage all our athletes to strive for victory in their sport – Singapore can do it!”
